Semester 2001B Overview and Call for Proposals

Semester 2001B Overview and Call for Proposals

Proposals are invited for observations in semester 2001B (1 Aug
2001 - 31 Jan 2002) with Gemini North and Gemini South. Here we give an overview of the
capabilities offered and other proposal guidelines and restrictions.

Proposal Deadlines and Process

Applications should be submitted via your national Gemini proposal process. The
submission deadline varies slightly from country to country, in the range 29 March - 20
April 2001. Specific details for each partner country can be found by following the links
to National Gemini Office pages in the Phase I overview.

The assessment and ranking of proposals within each partner country will be via
National Time Allocation Committees (NTACs) supported by the National Gemini Offices.
Assembly of the 2001B classical schedule and queue, definition of scientific ranking bands
and resolution of conflicts by the ITAC will follow the procedures described in the Phase I overview and the proposal process schedule. All data will be
subject to the normal Gemini proprietary data period of 18 months.

If submitting a program that uses both telescopes, the capabilities and time requested
on each telescope must be stated clearly in the proposal. This is required because
the National Gemini Offices will transmit separate XML files for Gemini North and Gemini
South to Gemini Observatory for scheduling.

Gemini North: Instrument Availability

Note that all capabilities
in semester 2001B are being made available on a shared-risks basis (see the definition of shared risks).

Instruments available in this semester are listed below. Note that there are
restrictions on the time available with certain instruments. An instrument calendar showing the
nominal instrument schedule, effective RA ranges and planned engineering/commissioning
time is available. This will be updated to show the classically-scheduled observing runs
after approval of the final schedule by the ITAC and Director.

Facility instruments:

NIRI - near-IR imager. NIRI is offered in queue and classical observing
modes. In classical mode, the available time is limited to a total of not more
than 14 nights. (This time may be added to the queue mode if there is insufficient
demand).

GMOS - optical imager and multi-object spectrograph. GMOS is offered in
queue mode only and is available after 1 November 2001 (see the
instrument calendar or instrument pages for additional restrictions).

The total (NIRI + GMOS) time available to the community in queue mode is 580 hours.

Visiting instruments:

Hokupa'a - natural guide star AO system with QUIRC near-IR camera (both
loaned by University of Hawaii). The Hokupa'a time available to the community is
limited nominally to 30 nights. Scheduling is subject to lunar phase limitations as QUIRC
is often used on the UH2.2m telescope during bright time.

Depending on demand and the availability of the University of Hawaii support personnel,
the balance of classically-scheduled time between Hokupa'a/QUIRC and NIRI may be adjusted
at the ITAC.

Gemini North: Operational Modes

For semester 2001B, NIRI is offered in both classical
and (predominantly) queue modes. GMOS is offered in queue mode only. As a visiting instrument, Hokupa'a/QUIRC
will be available in classical mode only. (Some
partner may offer access to Hokupa'a/QUIRC via their own mini-service schemes; following
the links to National Gemini Office pages in the Phase I
overview for more details, if available). Note that there is a minimum time (the sum
of integration plus overheads) that can be requested for either mode (see the descriptions
of the modes for details).

Observations of non-sidereal objects will be permitted for NIRI and Hokaupa'a/QUIRC but
not for GMOS.

Time-specific (including periodic monitoring) programs will be accepted on a
best-efforts basis. Note that the instrument scheduling imposes additional restrictions on
this class of programs.

All observations require the use of one wavefront sensor (WFS) star for fast guiding,
primary mirror active optics control and/or as an adaptive optics wavefront reference
source. The specific requirements for each instrument are given in the relevant science
instrument web pages ("performance and use" section). As the technical
feasibility of proposals relies in part on the availability of WFS stars, all proposals
must include suitable WFS stars. Proposals concerned with non-sidereal objects should
indicate the likely availability of WFS stars in the technical justification but are not
required to supply specific stars.

For 2001B there is an minimum elevation limit for the telescope of 30 deg.

The following modes will not be offered in Semester 2001B on Gemini
North: "quick response" observations, remote observing and eavesdropping. No
instrument or observing mode changes during the night will be available. No other visitor
instruments will be permitted.

Gemini North: Time Availability and Distribution

In semester 2001B, about 60% of the time will be made available for science use. This
fraction includes payback to University of Hawaii for the loan and support of
Hokupa'a/QUIRC (estimated at 8 nights for 2001B). The remainder is intended for
ongoing telescope and instrument commissioning. The time available to the partner
countries also depends on the allocation to Gemini staff (see an overview of the staff process); a fraction of 10% was assumed for this
table. Estimates of the time for each partner are listed below:

Partner

Estimated Nights
(or Hours) Available

US

38 nights (381 hours)

host (Univ. of Hawaii)

10 nights (102 hours)

UK

20 nights (202 hours)

Canada

12 nights (120 hours)

Australia

4 nights (40 hours)

Argentina

2 nights (20 hours)

Brazil

2 nights (20 hours)

Weather and other losses and visiting instrument payback are excluded
from this table. The number of nights is obtained from int(hours/10). Note that as the
host country for Gemini South, there is no time allocation for Chile on Gemini North.

Gemini South: Instrument Availability

Note that all capabilities
in semester 2001B are being made available on a shared-risks basis (see the definition of shared risks).

Instruments available in this semester are listed below. Note that there are
restrictions on the time available with certain instruments. An instrument calendar showing the
nominal instrument schedule, effective RA ranges and planned engineering/commissioning
time is available. This will be updated to show the classically-scheduled observing runs
after approval of the final schedule by the ITAC and Director.

Facility instruments:

There are no conventional facility instruments available, however the Acquisition
Camera is offered for broadband (BVRI) optical imaging. It's capabilities are limited
compared with the facility imager (GMOS). Some preference will be given to Quick-Response programs to help develop that operational
mode. AcqCam is offered in queue-observing mode only and is available to the
community for a total of 140 hours.

Visiting instruments:

Flamingos I - near-IR imager and multi-object spectrograph (loaned by University
of Florida). Flamingos I is shared with NOAO and is unavailable after end October.

OSCIR - 10 and 20um imaging and 10um spectroscopy (loaned by University of
Florida).

The total Flamingos I and OSCIR time available to the community is 30 nights. If the
demand for each instrument (including payback for instrument loan and support, estimated
at 5 and 6 nights respectively) is less than 16 nights then that instrument will not be
scheduled.

See the science instruments
web pages for more detailed capabilities. An integration time calculator
for AcqCam is available. OSCIR is being used in advance of the arrival of T-ReCS in
2001 to streamline the integration and commissioning of this facility instrument on Cerro
Pachon during 2001B. We expect to offer T-ReCS for use in 2002A.

Gemini South: Operational Modes

For semester 2001B, AcqCam is offered in queue mode
only. Visiting instruments (Flamingos I and OSCIR) will be available in QuickStart service mode only. Note that there is a
minimum time (the sum of integration plus overheads) that can be requested for either mode
(see the descriptions of the modes for details).

"Quick Response" programs are encouraged for use with the
Acquisition Camera. For 2001B such programs must be submitted through the normal
proposal process even if the specific target(s) are not known at the time of
writing (see further details of the process and
activation mechanism).

Time-specific (including periodic monitoring) programs will be accepted on a
best-efforts basis. Note that the instrument scheduling imposes additional restrictions on
this class of programs.

Observations of non-sidereal objects will be permitted.

All observations require the use of one wavefront sensor (WFS) star for fast guiding,
primary mirror active optics control and/or as an adaptive optics wavefront reference
source. The specific requirements for each instrument are given in the relevant science
instrument web pages ("performance and use" section). As the technical
feasibility of proposals relies in part on the availability of WFS stars, they must
include suitable WFS stars. Proposals concerned with non-sidereal objects should
indicate the likely availability of WFS stars in the technical justification. WFS stars
are not required for quick-response proposals (but will be required to execute the
observations).

For 2001B there is an minimum elevation limit for the telescope of 30deg.

The following modes will not be offered in Semester 2001B: remote
observing and eavesdropping. No instrument or observing mode changes during the night will
be available. No other visitor instruments will be permitted.

Gemini South: Time Availability and Distribution

In semester 2001B, about 30% of the time will be made available for science use. This
fraction includes payback to University of Florida for the loan and support of OSCIR and
Flamingos I (estimated at 6 and 5 nights, respectively, for 2001B). The remainder is
intended for ongoing telescope and instrument commissioning. The time available to
the partner countries also depends on the allocation to Gemini staff (see an overview of
the staff process); a fraction of 10% was assumed for
this table. Estimates of the time for each partner are listed below:

Partner

Estimated Nights
(or Hours) Available

US

16 nights (164 hours)

host (Chile)

4 nights (44 hours)

UK

9 nights (87 hours)

Canada

5 nights (52 hours)

Australia

2 nights (17 hours)

Argentina

1 night (9 hours)

Brazil

1 night (9 hours)

Weather and other losses and visiting instrument payback are excluded
from this table. The number of nights is obtained from int(hours/10).

Questions and Answers

All questions concerning proposals, or any other subject, should be made using the Gemini HelpDesk. This web-based
system will send the request to your National Gemini Office staff in the first instance
who will then escalate it to Gemini staff if necessary.